Michi Photostory

I’m not yet ready because… 

1. We’re still contemplating if my son will avail of school service or not because we were surprised by the price increase. We are aware of the fuel increase but an additional PHP2000 to the previous rate is too much for me. Since it is Blended Learning, my son will only go to school twice a week so I think PHP4900 is expensive. We asked for a discount rate since it is not 5 days a week pero hindi pa kami binalikan ng old school service niya. 

We already contacted a new school service that gave us a discounted rate but we haven’t confirmed my son’s slot yet. We are still giving a chance to the old school service kasi naman since Kinder, yun ang service niya. 

2. We don’t have a list of school supplies yet so I am still waiting for Orientation Day. 

3. Dahil two years na online classes, walang shoes anak ko. Nakauniform lang siya pero hindi na kita ang paa so no need na bumili. Hehehe! So after two school years, ngayon lang ulit kami bibili. We went to the mall a few weeks ago pero rubber shoes lang nabili namin but for black shoes, walang available sizes sa gusto namin na style. Good thing P.E. Uniform daw sa first day ng onsite class so we still have time to buy shoes. 

My son had his COVID19 Booster shot last month but honestly, I’m still nervous about their face-to-face class even though it is only two days a week. But I have no choice but to accept, hindi naman forever ang online classes, students need to go back to their normal routine din, just like in other countries. 

Anyway, I made this “First Day of Grade 8” school banner for my son and you can download the banner here if you want. 

Since I can watch series, movies, and shows anytime and anywhere using my phone. I became more hooked to Korean drama series, mukhang nadoble pa yung number of dramas na napapanood ko every year. You can check my Korean Drama List here and Short Korean Drama List here.  

Korean Drama became part of my life because it is one of my relaxations so when I saw this K-Culture Bundle, I immediately bought it so I can make my own Korean Drama stuff. The bundle has graphics for Korean drama and K-Pop fans. 

I’m not into K-Pop so I only made Korean Drama Stickers. I uploaded the SVG files on Cricut Design Space, used the offset feature, resized the image, attached, printed, and cut. That’s it! 

Just one more episode 

I Purple You Korean Hand Symbol 

Heart and Seoul 

Eat, Sleep, Kdrama, Repeat 

KPop Finger Heart Hand Symbol Heartbeat 

It’s a K-Drama Thing 

I just want to watch k-drama and ignore all of my adult problems. 

I paused my K-drama to be here. 

I was up all night watching Kdramas 

The only drama I want is Korean with English Subtitles

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Four years ago my son had his First Communion and just a week ago, he already had his Confirmation. If there is no community quarantine, my son will have his Confirmation last year because this is part of their event in their school. But there is no news about it so when my friend informed me that there is Confirmation here in our place, I immediately informed my husband about it so he can register my son.

Even though I don’t fully understand the Sacrament of Confirmation, I know that it is a special event for my son so I still prepare something for this event. First is the Confirmation Cake Topper, this is just a layer of glitter and metallic cardstock. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to use this cake topper because my son doesn’t want a cake. He prefers to eat leche flan and the topper is too big for the flan. Anyway, it is still a souvenir that I will keep. 

And because of the COVID19 scare, only one parent and godparent are allowed to attend the Confirmation so I was not able to witness my son’s Confirmation but in spirit, I am there. Since there is only one godparent, I DIY the Confirmation Souvenir. 

I just personalized this mug using Teckwrap color-changing vinyl (hot) and designed a Care Card Instruction and Confirmation Gift Tag. I found the message on Pinterest and I just recreated it. I edited this file so just in case you need a souvenir tag, feel free to download it here. (size is 3x3 inches). 

I also make a card for my son, (the message is from Pinterest too). I did not buy a gift because I am taking a break from online shopping. I dislike delay delivery during Christmas Season so I just bought a gift at the mall after our celebration. 

After the Confirmation, my husband fetched me and we had lunch at Kuya J. I have a gift voucher that I want to use so we ate here. It’s been a long time since we at Kuya J and I was surprised when I saw their menu because the food that I used to order, was no longer there. My husband ordered Crispy Pata PHP590, Pinakbet PHP210, Rice Platter PHP125, Iced Tea Pitcher PHP180, Leche Flan PHP75, and Kuya J Halo-Halo Espesyal (Original and Ube) PHP120.

If I don’t know what to buy, I create my own gift just like this Printable Alphabet Dot Marker that I prepared for my godson’s birthday. When my son was still in toddler years, I want him to do this dot marker activity but my problem is I don’t know where to buy the dot markers. But after I tried Shopee, Lazada, and Amazon last year (late bloomer) everything changed so now if I need something I just search and browse these e-commerce sites. 

For your information, there are so many benefits of dot marker activity like 

1. It improves the child’s fine motor skills, hand dexterity, and grip. 

2. It develops the child’s hand and eye coordination. 

3. It enhances color recognition. 

4. It encourages creativity and exploration. 

Since I was not able to do this with my son, I decided to make one for my godson. I purchased the Printable Alphabet Dot Marker here. The printable file includes Ai Source File, PDF file (ready to print), and PNG images. There are two pages that have typo errors so I contacted customer service about it so they can update the files. But I don’t have time to wait so I just corrected the two pages, added background colors, and personalized the pages. 

I printed the pages on 90GSM paper and trimmed them so they would fit my A4 laminating film. Lastly, laminated the pages so it won’t be a one-time use activity. You can buy more dot markers so there are more colors but unfortunately when I bought the dot markers, limited colors lang. Ayaw ko naman ng dark colors. Anyway, this activity is flexible, aside from dot markers, you can use stickers, pompom balls, or any stuff that will improve the fine motor skills of your child. 

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I will share the preparations that I did for this simple party. It took me a week to prepare for the party materials because I don’t want to feel overwhelmed so I spent few hours a day finishing a project. My first project is a birthday card, I designed this “Birthday boy, it’s time to level up”, card. It is a folded card that I just printed, cut, and folded, I print 3 pieces of this card for my husband, mom, and of course for me. This is available in my shop if you need a birthday card for your gamer family or friends.

The next project is "Ethan is now a teen birthday cake topper", it took me a long time to decide what materials will I use, either vinyl stickers + acrylic or cardstock. After contemplating, I settled for cardstock; I used glitter cardstock, metallic cardstock, and plain cardstock. I’m happy with the result because this is a big improvement compared to the cake topper that I did last year. 

Then for my third project is a cupcake topper or food topper. I designed this using the Game Kids Clipart Set. I printed this using cardstock and sticker paper. I used lollipop sticks for my cupcake or food topper.

The fourth project is the gift tag, “Happy birthday! You’ve already lived 1000 lives”. Just like the birthday card, it is a folded card that I printed, cut, and folded. 

The fifth project is the 13 banner, I started making my 3D numbers but after few hours of making it, I was not happy with the result so I ended up with this. I printed some graphics to add some designs so it won’t look so plain.

The sixth project is the Birthday Party Hat, I just search for a free party hat template on Pinterest and upload it on Cricut Design Space. I used cardstock for this and added the remaining food toppers that I made. For a family of three, I prepare 3 party hats. 

The last project is souvenir stickers, “Game Over, thank you for coming”. I used sticker paper for this. We did not have visitors but I prepare simple food packs that my husband delivered to my in-laws. 

If you are planning for a gamer birthday party, feel free to download these souvenir stickers here. 

Just like that my baby boy is now a teen, it happened so fast and in a blink of an eye, my son’s face, body, and voice changed. And because we are stuck at home since the community quarantine started, I barely noticed the changes, unless makita ko yung old photos and videos niya na ang layo na pala ng face and voice niya sa dati. All I knew is tumatangkad siya. 

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This is the second school year that we are still under community quarantine so I am not sure what will happen to Teacher’s Day celebration. It is quite challenging to look for gifts but it is easy to make your own card. I designed some cards that I planned to send to my son’s teacher. If you are looking for some printable cards, you can visit my shop here. 

You just need a printer, cardstock, and scissors. 

For the longest time, my two boys have been bugging me to cook this, 

One of the things that I noticed is they love cooking buchimgae or pancake. They have different pancakes like gamjajeon, kimchijeon, hwajeon, jangtteok, bindaetteok, jeon pajeon, hotteok and many more. Korean pancake uses different ingredients that are soaked in batter mixed then fry, it is either sweet or savory. Among their pancakes, hotteok is the only thing that interests me.

A few months ago, I discovered this CJ Beksul Hotcake Mix and I immediately bought it since we love pancakes for breakfast and snacks. I used Google translate to check the recipe at the back of the packaging and I also searched online how to use the CJ Beksul Pancake Mix. If you don’t have a weighing scale, it is better to buy the 500g pack, kaya natagalan ako sa pagluto kasi hinanap ko pa yung weighing scale ko. 

CJ Beksul Hotcake Mix Recipe 

500g of CJ Beksul Hotcake Mix 

2 eggs 

400ml of Milk or 280ml of water 

1. Put 2 eggs in a bowl and whisk it. Pour milk or water then whisk it again. Add the 500g of hotcake mix and stir until there are no lumps in the mixture.

2. Preheat the pan and lightly wipe oil in it.

3. Pour 1 ladle of hotcake mixture into the pan. Cook it in low heat for 1-2 mins then flip it when bubbles form on the surface and cook it again for 1 min. 

4. Serve and eat. 

I added milk instead of water and the batter is a little bit runny so I find it hard to cook a pancake, hindi kasi siya nagiging bilog. If I’m using a different brand, I can cook 3 pancakes at a time using my pan pero dahil runny yung batter, I can only cook one pancake. To make my life easier I just cook waffles. I don’t understand why 400 ml kapag milk at 280 ml kapag water. Next time I will use 280ml of milk instead of 400ml. 

I also bought a CJ Beksul Doughnut Mix but I haven’t tried it yet but I already made a printable recipe card for future use. Feel free to download the recipe card for both pancake and doughnut. 

Check the links where I bought my CJ Beksul Hotcake Mix and Doughnut Mix or care to share kung saan mas mura bumili. :)

Maya Pancake Mix and Bisquick Pancake Mix